Alibaba and Ford have created a vending machine for cars in China

Photo from AlibabaFord is often at the forefront of technology and innovation. From self-driving car and safety technology to spearheading various hybrid and EV initiatives, the carmarker wants to be in the discussion no matter what the future of cars is. A bold new vending machine for Ford cars in China, which was created in tandem with Alibaba is turning the car buying process on its head.

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KFC restaurant concept in China lets you pay using your smile

There will come a day when you just need to smile at a camera and your meal will be paid for. At least it looks like we’re heading in that direction. A more health-conscious KFC concept restaurant called KPRO in Hangzhou, China has started to use Alipay facial recognition payment system that will let you pay for your meal with a smile and your mobile phone number. The kiosk that takes the orders will scan your face and require you to enter your mobile phone number to safeguard against fraud.

The system, which is aptly called Smile to Pay, is developed by Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial Services Group. According to the company, they’ve been improving the technology since the beta version was launched by Alibaba founder Jack Ma in 2015 at CEBIT in Germany. While it’s a first service of its kind, using facial recognition for payment services isn’t an exclusive to Ant. The likes of Samsung, PayPal, NEC, and MasterCard have also been testing out this technology.

Source: Alizila